PSH!

But his left hand shattered the moment he raised it, the skin flying back like ribbons.

No...

’My Divine Authority isn’t working?’

’The skin... it’s separating from the body?’

’No, it’s Tais! Is Tais dead?’

’How could this be?’

’As long as the skin was indestructible, Tais couldn’t die. And as long as Tais was alive, the skin wouldn’t peel off her.’

’This was the perfect vessel for my descent!’

"It’s time for you to die."

Lu Cang gripped his Void Spirit Star Ring Battle Spear, the skin on his own body still peeling away.

He looked like a monster.

But Lu Cang’s body remained steady, his gaze fixed on Aertemi.

"No!"

"Kumironi..."

"I still haven’t... gotten it."

Aertemi gritted her teeth, desperately trying to pull the fluttering skin back onto her body, but it just kept sloughing off.

And after the outer skin fell away,

another body hidden beneath it was gradually revealed.

A young, black-haired girl... with her eyes tightly shut.

She hadn’t shed her skin like other Skin Takers; Aertemi’s skin had simply been covering hers.

Lu Cang raised a hand.

A soul drifted out and flew toward him.

Lu Cang took Tais’s soul.

Whether she was a truly innocent victim or not, Lu Cang couldn’t possibly leave her even a sliver of a chance to survive.

As her skin continued to flutter away, Aertemi’s emotions cooled completely. Her eyes turned serious and cold.

"Could you tell me what exactly your Root Magic is?"

Lu Cang’s expression was frigid. He didn’t respond.

Aertemi’s tone was slightly mournful. "Fine, it seems I’m not even that charming, am I~"

"Little boy, I’ll remember you."

"And you know, I actually know your name~"

"Lu Cang."

WHOOSH—

The last bit of skin flowed away.

Not a trace of Aertemi’s skin was left on Tais’s body.

It lost all momentum.

And fell toward the bottomless Abyss in the earth.

Lu Cang simply raised his hand!

Three "Cores" materialized in his palm.

「Root Magic: Core of All Things」

「My Totality」

This one Core was the manifestation of his complete self, his totality.

His person, skin, bones, brain, Qi and Blood, Magic Power, Magic, Combat Skills...

Everything that constituted his being was contained within a single Core.

Even if his physical body were destroyed, as long as this Core remained intact, his entire being would persist.

As for what the Core manifested inside and out,

he could personally adjust it. He could manifest his Magic and Combat Skills on the outermost layer, and any substance that came into contact with it would trigger the Core’s surface properties.

After one layer was triggered, the next, deeper layer would follow.

Three "Cores" circled Lu Cang’s body.

These three Cores were for offense, while a remaining Core was for defense.

As long as a single Core was not destroyed,

Lu Cang could use it as the basis for his totality and achieve Rebirth.

Thinking about it, it was rather like an indestructible Colored Golden Core.

As for its offensive capabilities...

Lu Cang casually lifted his hand.

SWOOSH!

The three Cores shot into Tais’s body!

BOOM!

It was like a Soul Condensing True Burst from the Sacrifice of a hundred billion souls! The heavens and the earth once again erupted with a terrifying aftershock!

His entire self naturally included "Source·All Laws" and "Source·Body is Law," and could thus manifest "Reflection of the Past" on its surface.

Even when destroying a corpse to erase all traces, he used his full power.

Lu Cang didn’t want to give her even the slightest chance of revival.

After such a blast, not even a speck of ash from Tais’s body remained.

Lu Cang felt his own body. At this moment, his skin was still continuously peeling off...

The enemy’s influence remained on him; it hadn’t vanished with her death.

Although his healing ability was strong,

this was just too agonizing.

Lu Cang downed several more bottles of medicine, and his body’s recovery speed increased considerably.

At the same time, the pain was also suppressed to a great extent.

’This is the best I can do for now...’

As for Tais’s soul.

Lu Cang considered it for a moment, and an Undead manifested beside him.

The Undead of Tais appeared by Lu Cang’s side.

A Level 6 Skin Taker.

Actually, Lu Cang had originally considered touching Tais’s body.

But Aertemi had left too much of a dark impression on him. He really didn’t want to touch any skin related to her.

Lu Cang touched the Undead beside him.

Streams of information flowed into his mind.

Tais.

A person from the Mish Empire in the Huanmu Islands of the Moon Sea.

At the same time, the Mish Empire was also the location of the Rose of Shedding Skin’s headquarters.

"The Moon Sea..."

"The Moon Sea again."

’It really is a sea region teeming with Divine Beings. Several of the powerful enemies and foes I’ve encountered are all from the Moon Sea.’

’Looks like I’ll have to steer clear of the Moon Sea in the future.’

Unless his power reached a stage where he could crush everything in his path, Lu Cang had no desire to go to a region crawling with enemies.

But the Moon Sea was so far from the Secret Sea, it would probably be difficult to get there even if he wanted to.

Lu Cang reached out again, and several Storage Bags flew back into his hand.

These were Tais’s personal Storage Bags.

To be precise, it was a "Ten Thousand Skin Bag" made by Aertemi.

The craftsmanship was extremely high.

It was sealed with numerous Restrictions—even... a Restriction with a Level 8 decryption difficulty?

’As expected of a god.’

Lu Cang cracked the Restriction with a casual wave of his hand.

But instead of erasing it, he left it in place and simply added permissions for himself to bypass it.

This Level 8 Restriction was quite useful. Besides preventing scans and unauthorized access, it also had a tracking function.

Plus, the Ten Thousand Skin Bag itself was tough enough, having been stitched together from the hide of an extremely powerful Level 8 Demon.

He didn’t have to worry about it being destroyed.